Foreign correspondents have been on the endangered species list in recent years, but Lawrence Wright isn't going anywhere. He won a Pulitzer for his book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, and a film adaptation of his first one-man stage production, My Trip to Al Queda, premiered this month on HBO. Wright cannot be regarded as simply a hold-out of a rapidly declining breed, but rather as a champion of some sort of journalistic natural selection. They've trimmed down the ranks, but Wright is still here, and with good reason. more ›

Some people may think that the latest escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complicated and nuanced, but for Rep. Peter King, Republican from Long Island, knows better: it's all Obama's fault. "I believe that the Obama administration's foreign policy is responsible for what happened with the flotilla," King tells CBS, referring to the civilian deaths aboard a ship carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza. So now King is introducing a resolution to force the president to militarily support Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. more ›

Turkey is demanding an international inquiry into Israel's fatal raid of a convoy carrying aid to Palestinians in Gaza last week, Israel's U.S. Ambassador is promising that his country will never apologize "for measures that were necessarily taken to defend the lives of our soldiers, and Senator Chuck Schumer is calling on the State Department to determine if the Turkish group bankrolling the flotilla has ties to Al Qaeda. And to top it off, the Pixies canceled their Wednesday concert in Tel Aviv to protest Israel's handling of the convoy. more ›

Earlier today, the Irish ship, the Rachel Corrie, carrying aid to Gaza was stopped and boarded by Israeli troops without resistance. BBC News reports the ship is now in the Port of Ashod, "Israel says it will question those on board at the port and transfer the aid to the Gaza Strip by land after checking the cargo for banned items." more ›

A 21-year old American student at Cooper Union lost an eye after getting hit in the face with a tear gas projectile fired by an Israeli soldier during a demonstration at a crowded checkpoint between Israel and the West Bank yesterday. Emily Henochowicz (here's her blog) was part of a group protesting the deaths of at least nine pro-Palestinian activists aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. According to her fellow activists, Henochowicz is undergoing surgery to remove her left eye, and one protester, Sören Johanssen, says Israeli soldiers intentionally fired at her face: more ›

A six-ship convoy carrying aid to Palestinians in Gaza was attacked by Israeli commandoes, leaving at least nine dead and earning condemnations from around the world. The Washington Post reports, "The European Union called for an inquiry into the deaths. And the United Nations Security Council planned to meet Monday afternoon for an emergency session. The United States expressed regret at the loss of the life and said it was 'working to understand the circumstances of the tragedy.'" Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called it "state terrorism." more ›

Another day, another political cartoon controversy! This time the center of attention is Pat Oliphant, the world's most widely syndicated political cartoonist, and his recent cartoon depicting a goose-stepping soldier pushing a giant Star of David shark into a defenseless woman and child. In case anyone misses the subtle message here, the woman is labeled "Gaza," and the illustration is tagged "jackboot justice" on the United Press Syndicate site. more ›

Some members of the Park Slope Food Coop are pushing for a ban on products bought from Israel; the proposal, which will be put to a vote soon, is being floated in response to Israel's most recent military action in Gaza. "Hima B.," the sponsor of the proposal, tells the Jewish Daily Forward, "Economic sanctions worked in South Africa. Why shouldn’t we ask for an end to practices that are violating human rights?" Because, member Rabbi Andy Bachman says, it's "an irrelevant gesture to 5 million Israelis and 2 million Palestinians, but it will make someone in Park Slope feel really good about themselves. That’s what this is about; it’s about the political purity, which is part of Park Slope’s unique self-absorption." Bachman's synagogue happens to host the Co-op's monthly meetings, and he says that should the proposal pass, he'll kindly ask them to have their little gatherings elsewhere. And last year Co-op members voted to ban bottled water, sending a tough message to Aquaman. more ›

Morning rush hour drivers along the BQE this morning encountered a series of signs protesting the occupation of Gaza and what is seen as Israeli war crimes hung by the group Jews Against the Occupation. Signs such as "FREE GAZA" and "JEWS SAY: STOP ISRAEL" were draped from overpasses as commuters headed southbound along the highway. more ›

Both sides in the three-week long Gaza conflict have agreed to come to a temporary cease fire that began just earlier today. After Israel called off attacks at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, Hamas followed suit around twelve hours later, agreeing to a one-week truce. Now Egypt will step forward and continue their role as mediator in an attempt to bring forth a longer-term deal between the two sides. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg's brush with a Hamas rocket yesterday made headlines in today's papers—some of which may have exaggerated just how much danger the mayor was in (the Post's headline reads that a "rocket rocks his 'boom!' town visit.") Bloomberg himself told the press, “Let’s not overstate the risks to me" and emphasized, "I feel safe here." more ›

As Israeli forces gained control of the eastern section of northern Gaza and pushed deeper into the territory, Mayor Bloomberg visited Israel and continued to emphasize his support for the continued strikes. He told the AP, "You should rest assured, if anyone in New York was being threatened, my instruction to the NYPD would be to use all the resources at their disposal to protect civilians." more ›